Adjei-Brenyah picks and pulls at the darkest threads of the American carceral state to weave a picture of what could happen if the private prison industry was taken to an all-too-believable extreme. Each of the inventions of the world of "Chain-Gang All-Stars" I thought was too wild to be true could be easily traced back to the prison landscape of today... how is it that this reality feels worse than dystopian fiction? The story is tender, visceral, unsettling, and DEFINITELY unforgettable.
— Ning
“Some may read this novel as a dystopian take of our current prison system, but it’s really a version of the reality we are currently living. But make no mistake: there is love and hope in these pages which we could all use right now.”
— Rosa Hernandez, Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park, WA